


Royal Affairs

by scrapmetal



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F, Homophobia, I Am Gay And Trans, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Alphonse Elric, Trans Edward Elric, Trans Mei Chang, Transphobia, but its there so im warning ya, its not huge, trans ling yao, trans rights baybee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 00:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19120576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrapmetal/pseuds/scrapmetal
Summary: The kingdom of Xerxes is somewhat isolated to the outside world with it being in the middle of a desert and all.  That, along with it only having a king with no living relatives makes it very unpopular for foreign kingdoms to interact with it besides occasionally offering up a princess for the lone king to marry. This doesn't stop Prince Ling Yao from coming to try his hand at establishing a better relationship between Xing and Xerxes.There's also a b plot thats like the other half of the fic but summaries are hard so.might change the title i hate naming things





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i was debating for a while whether or not i should post this bc. i already have so many other fics. but you know what? i have some chapters done and if the actual fic never finishes... so be it. its fun.

“...Who’re you?”

 

“Ah apologies, your highness. I'm Ling Yao, 12th Prince of Xing, pleasure to meet you.”

 

The young king frowned and leaned back in his throne. “Mmm whatever, welcome to Xerxes. What do you want.”

 

Ling nervously wiped some sweat off his brow that did not just come from the hot climate. He wasn't quite expecting the king to be so… Apathetic. Rude. Blunt. All of his years spent learning how to live amongst nobility was thrown out the window as the king of Xerxes sneezed into his elbow. 

 

“Well, to be completely honest, I just want to uh. Negotiate? I may only be the 12th prince of Xing but I'm the head of an entire clan and if we play our cards right, I can help you establish a better relationship with Xing.” Why was this so hard? Ling kicked himself mentally. Usually he was on top of these things.

 

The king rubbed his face with a sigh. “I don't have any sisters or daughters you could court, sorry.”

 

Ling flushed at the comment. That was probably the last thing he wanted to do. He specifically traveled to Xerxes because it had no female heir, but he couldn't just  _ say  _ that. ‘Oh, your highness, I am actually an entire homosexual, so I wasn't even thinking of that.’ No! 

 

Ling smiled instead and said “oh no no no, you misunderstand my motives. I was thinking that I could maybe become a bit closer to you instead?” Ah wait, no. Still sounded gay. He had one job. “I mean. Help you. With politics or something.” 

 

Ling couldn't tell if the king’s cheeks reddened in anger or embarrassment. “Ugh! Fine. I guess I've been wanting help with this…  _ issue _ for a while, follow me.”

 

Ling smiled in relief as he followed the king into his palace confidently until he felt someone poke his shoulder. It was Lan Fan.

 

“Don't get settled in just yet, my lord. The king doesn't like you. At all.”

 

Comforting.

 

* * *

 

“You’ve probably heard that I’m the only royal left in the Xerxian bloodline, right?” The king asked as he led Ling through sandstone halls open to the sky.

 

“Of course, your highness, is that why you’re so rude?” Ling winced as the words came out of his mouth. It was really hard to remind himself that the man in front of him, who was a good ten inches shorter than him, was in charge of the place.

 

The king looked back at Ling with a frown. “No, because I’m  _ not  _ the only royal left. Also, if you're going to insult me  _ please _ just call me Ed.”

 

Ling smiled. “Alright Ed, who’s this secret relative of yours?”

 

“My little brother, Alphonse.” Ed responded with an air of sadness Ling didn't expect. He wasn't too keen about his own royal siblings.

 

Ed led Ling into a large bedroom, or at least that's what he suspected it used to be before it was consumed by a tornado of ink and parchment. The only thing in the room left completely untouched was a large portrait hanging over a desk. It was painted in the traditional Xerxian style, complete with thick black lines, gold leaf and embedded gemstones, bright colors, and a geometric motif. Despite the stylization, or perhaps because of it, the subject’s young face was very expressive. They had an earnest smile and eyes that sparkled both figuratively and literally, as the irises were gold leaf. Their brown skin complemented the gold of their hair, and they wore a simple crown atop their head, an actual silver band imbedded in the canvas. In the background the desert sun set, and a weaving pattern circled their head like a halo. 

 

“I'm assuming that's your brother?” Ling asked.

 

Ed nodded. “They had that done about five years ago, right before they were kidnapped. It was actually finished after they went missing, so it's the most accurate painting I have.”

 

“And they’re still alive.” 

 

Ed gave Ling a strange look. “Yeah. After they went missing there was an initial search that came up with nothing— no evidence, no body, no leads. After that, to the nobles they were as good as dead. I don’t think those old bastards ever really… liked them at all. A funeral was held, but I never really believed they were dead y’know? I mean, there was no body, no blood, no evidence. Lucky for me, they found a way to contact me about a year after they disappeared. I’ve been looking for them ever since.”

 

Ling frowned. “Contact you?”

 

“Yeah— hold on.” Ed looked around the desk for a bit before picking up a small mirror that had fallen to the side. The face of the mirror, instead of being reflective, was pure black. Ed frowned. “Pride must be in.” 

 

“Pride,” Ling repeated. 

 

“The shadow monster that’s keeping Al hostage,” Ed explained distractedly, an ear held up to the mirror. “I can hear that asshole monologuing…”

 

“Ah right… of course.” Ling said, not quite sure if he really believed in shadow monsters. “Why are they being held hostage in the first place?”

 

“To be honest? No clue.” Ed admitted, putting down the mirror. “Current working theory was that he was planning on trying to manipulate Al and use them as a puppet on the throne. When it was clear that wouldn’t really work he probably refused to admit that he messed up and now is just… keeping Al hostage for the sake of it.”

 

Ling hummed in thought. “In line with his name, I guess.”

 

“Oh yeah definitely. Guess the Seven Deadly Sins are a Xerxian thing, you wouldn’t know the mythology…” Ed waved the thought away. “Anyways, we’ve both been triangulating their location through the stars and any other landmarks they can give me, you can browse my calculations if you want.” He gestured to the desk… and the floor. 

 

Ling looked around at all the parchments with a bit of bewilderment. “...Are you serious? You haven’t actually… Physically looked for them at all?”

 

Ed blinked. “Of course not! You think I'm going to go stumbling off aimlessly into the desert to try and  _ happen  _ across Al? That'd be dangerous, take forever, and in general be a bad idea. I have to pinpoint them first.”

 

Ling shrugged. “I duno, you might get lucky.”

 

“I don't like to trust luck…” Ed muttered half to himself before continuing. “The most annoying part of this whole thing is that occasionally, the tower Al’s in moves and we have to start over.”

 

“Okay. That's it. I'm leaving to go find them on my own.” Ling said as he started walking out. 

 

Ed grabbed Ling's sleeve. “Nope! I'm not letting you do that. If you're going to help me, you're helping me my way.”

 

Ling sighed. “And how exactly am I going to do that? I'm not exactly a respected scholar.”

 

Ed shrugged. “It's always nice to have four hands. And I can bounce ideas off you. You're not as useless as you think, unfortunately.”

 

“Unfortunately.”

 

* * *

“What if… The only way out of here… Is to kiss. Not Pride though I’d kill him instantly. I mean my rescuer, who isn't you, and also attractive, around my age, and gay.”

 

“Mmm…”

 

“Hey I know knights in shining armor are cliche but like… armor hot. Like as in attractive not like when I cried the first time I wore some because it's like an oven. Too bad so many knights are cishet guys. Ugh. If you ever make my situation public, could you please say that no one's allowed to look for me if they're cishet?”

 

“If I did that it wouldn't matter that I'm king I'd be killed immediately.” 

 

“Ugh…It's like the nobles are massively transphobic or something.”

 

“I mean, yeah. We've been knew. They still think I have a dead twin sister.”

 

“Yeah, and they hated my guts. Well, those are my thoughts from today! I'm bored out of my mind like always. Has anything exciting happened on your end?”

 

“Mmmmm not…  _ really _ .”

 

“Oh oh that means it's good, tell me.”

 

“Ugh fine. This Xingese prince showed up today saying he wanted to establish a good relationship with Xerxes or whatever. Help out. So I told him about your situation because I figured that hey it's about time we start getting some help.”

 

“Ooooo… A prince. About how old do you think he is?”

 

“Annoying years old.”

 

“Oh come  _ on  _ Ed, give me something. You're my only source of entertainment and you barely even do anything. That wasn’t even funny.”

 

Ed snorted, put down Al’s mirror, and walked away.

 

“Noooo brother don’t leave me here alone!” Al’s small voice faded as Ed casually walked around his massive room. 

 

“Stop crushing on a prince you know nothing about.” Ed said back loudly, making sure the mirror picked up his voice.

 

“I'm not crushing on him asshole!! I'm just curious! And like, I'm not asking just for me! You're also single!”

 

Ed sighed and picked up Al’s mirror. “I already told you, he's an asshole. Annoying. I hate him. Also, even if I did like him it's not like that'd mean anything, it's not like anyone’d let me do anything about it.”

 

“Ed…” Al started sadly, face looking genuinely concerned. “I don't want to hear that… You'll find someone, alright? And I'll jump out of this stupid tower and run all the way to the palace if anyone says you can't or makes you marry some random princess and punch them in the face. They'll be too busy reeling over the fact that their least favorite heir is still alive to react.”

 

Ed chuckled a bit and lay down on his bed with a sigh. “Thanks. I'm just saying though… That prince  _ is  _ annoying. He was trying way too hard to be polite. Had to tell him to stop calling me ‘your majesty’ and shit. And the moment I told him that could call me Ed he started insulting me.”

 

“That all sounds like your fault, but alright.” Al yawned, “he seems alright though, wonder why he decided to come here, I'd imagine it's a bit harder to make a clean and easy agreement without anyone to marry.”

 

“Yeah, I was wondering that too…”

 

“Maybe he really  _ is _ gay, and all my talk isn't just useless lonely ramblings of someone stuck in a tower for five years.” 

 

Ed snorted quietly, stifling a yawn. “Oh but haven't you heard? Gay people don't exist.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOPS i’ve been sitting on this chapter for a while i’m sorry. hopefully this fic actually goes places because i love the concept and i have ideas... i just have tons of ideas for other fics and aus it’s a problem

Al woke up the next morning feeling like something was missing. It only took a few moments to realize what it was, the mirror they clung to at night like a lifeline was gone. They sat up with a start, looking around their tiny bed and the floor. 

 

Nothing. 

 

Nothing except a small paper card on their desk, covered in the loopy handwriting of Pride. Al's heart dropped to their feet. 

 

_ Hello, Prince.  _

 

_ You're determined, I'll give you that.  _

 

_ I won't be giving you your mirror back anytime soon. You can't hide anything from me, especially something so obvious. This is your first warning. I double checked the tower for items that could be used as materials in spells. Your sorry little hobby ends today. _

 

_ -Pride _

 

Al sighed. It was going to take them a while to make a new mirror, and it'd be a lot harder with Pride being more cautious. At least he was so prideful that he thought he had confiscated the mirror right after it was made. 

 

It really, really, really sucked to be completely alone again. It had been so long since they were last like this, back when they first arrived at the tower. Confused, scared, angry… Pride was even worse back then. At least this time they knew Ed was looking for them. At least he knew they were alive.

 

“Hey!”

 

Al blinked. That was a voice, wasn't it?

 

“Hello?? Is anyone up there?”

 

Al's heart beat like they were running a marathon. It was happening. Someone had found them. They clambered out of their bed and rushed over to the window.

 

“Yes! Hello! Hi! I'm here!”

 

The stranger looked up at Al with a frown. “Do you know which way the capital of Xerxes is?”

 

Al's heart sank. What if this stranger couldn't help them get home? What if they went with them and they both died in the middle of the desert, lost?

 

“I uhh… Don't really know? But please! Can you help me get out of here? I'm trapped! I'll try my best to help you out when I get down just-- please! You're the only visitor I've gotten in five years!”

 

“Five  _ years? _ ”

 

“Yes! I’m uh… Kinda stuck.”

 

“Well then yeah of course I’ll help! Here, stand back a bit.”

 

Al complied, watching as two hooks fastened themselves at the lip of the window. Moving forwards again, they saw the hooks were connected to a rope ladder. They almost started making their way down then and there, but they figured that maybe they should go over the small room they’d stayed in for the last five years one last time.

 

“I’ll be right down! Just gotta get a few things.”

 

Al tore the fitted sheet off their bed, exposing the myriad of magical trinkets they’d created over the years. In a perfect world they’d take it all, but a lot of it was completely useless, mostly made for practice. In the end they picked up a pencil, a statue, a hairbrush, a matchbook, and a candle. Picking that all up in a cloth bag, they went over to the kitchen and stashed the food and water Pride gave them for the day in the bag as well.

 

Al swung their leg out of the window giddily. They were free! They slowly made their way down the rope ladder, shaking in disbelief and excitement. Once they got down, they took a look at their savior. She was standing in front of a horse, hand above her face and squinting up at Al. She was about a foot shorter than Al and wore a tan hood to protect from the hot desert sun. Underneath the hood she wore a simple pink Xingese dress, her hair braided and tied up into two buns on the top of her head. Al had the strong urge to hug her in pure gratitude and touch starvation, but instead they just stood and chuckled nervously.

 

“It was pretty lucky you had a rope ladder on hand, aha. Thank you, by the way. Thank you very much I-- it’s been so long.” 

 

The stranger just smiled. “You’re welcome! I'm not actually that lucky though, this isn't really a ladder.” She tugged the ladder down after a few tries, and once the hooks were in her hands they transformed into small knives, the long sturdy ropes becoming decorative tassels on the end. 

 

“Oh wow that's amazing! Did you enchant those yourself?” 

 

The stranger beamed. “Yep! I'm actually a pretty accomplished sorcerer if I do say so myself. Do you know anything about magic?”

 

“Oh yeah totally! I mean, besides being held hostage by a mythical shadow demon, I'm fairly good at it considering I've been doing it from memory out of bored desperation for the last five years. I packed some of my more useful creations right before leaving.”

 

“That's neat! I mean, not the whole… Being held hostage thing, but you know.” 

 

“Ah yeah, I get what you mean it's fine.” Al glanced at the singular horse. “Sorry if I slow you down, your poor horse probably wasn't expecting another passenger.”

 

“Oh nonono it's fine! I'm sure the horse will be alright, I'm nice and small.”

 

Al bit back a comment about how they were not nice and small at all, their whole 6+ feet of height. Instead, they asked “What's your name, by the way? I, uh, want to put a name to the person who uh… saved me.” Not as romantic as they were hoping, fairytales were very wrong about this whole thing. 

 

She didn't seem to mind the awkwardness too much though, she just laughed and said “Mei Chang! And who might you be?”

 

“Alphonse… Alphonse. I'm Alphonse, you can just call me Al if you want though,” they answered, kicking themself. They, for whatever reason, decided halfway into saying their name that maybe they didn't want to reveal their royal heritage, and that decision made everything even more awkward.

 

Mei smirked a bit. “Alright then Alphonse ‘Al’ Alphonse, you think you can help me find my way on this map?”

 

Al brightened at the mention of a map, ignoring the teasing. They could actually help with that, which meant they really were free. 

 

* * *

 

Ed really didn't appreciate being woken by someone yelling his name, especially when he realized who it was. 

 

_ What's Pride on about now? Something about me being a horrible king or thinking Al's dead? _

 

It took a few moments for Ed to realize that Pride was talking to him. Directly. Through the mirror.

 

“Good morning, King of Xerxes! Seems you and your brother have similar sleeping habits, which is lucky for me. I wish you didn't have to learn about him being alive, but I'm happy to say that you won't be able to find him. You won't be able to contact him again. You'll never get to know what I am.” The mirror was then dropped and stepped on by Pride. As the mirror on the other end cracked, so did Ed's.

 

Ed cringed every time Al was misgendered. It'd been a while since anyone had talked about them, well, except for Ling, who was uniquely accepting of their pronouns. It could just be a language thing, or a politeness thing. It was best not to get excited.

 

Speak of the devil, Ed heard a knock at the door. It couldn't possibly be anyone else, unfortunately. Everyone else knew to ring the bell. 

 

Ed sighed the longest sigh of his life and stood up to open the door a crack. 

 

“What are you doing knocking on my door so early?”

 

Ling took a quick assessment of Ed's disheveled appearance before saying “it's almost noon, I was getting a bit worried.”

 

“Like I said, early.” Ed sighed again. “But since you're here, I might as well update you on the situation.” He held up the broken mirror with an almost desperate look on his face as he started to really comprehend what the whole thing really meant. 

 

Ling frowned. “You dropped it or something? I can't imagine it'll be too hard to fix.”

 

“No, Pride found Al’s and broke it. If one of the mirrors breaks, the link breaks both of them. Pretty simple magic theory, I know it and I hate magic.”

 

Ling blinked. “Don't you use magic? Isn't your brother a sorcerer?”

 

“Well yeah, I don't hate it in a weird way, just y'know, I'm not good at it, don't think it makes sense. Al hates physics but you don't see them randomly ignoring gravity. Magical flight doesn't count.”

 

“Fair enough… What are you going to do now?”

 

Ed sighed yet again. “I guess I gotta figure that out, huh? I'd love to try to get some other form of communication with Al up, but like I said, I hate magic. I think the last option is to listen to your advice, unfortunately.”

 

“My advice?”

 

“To go looking for them the old fashioned way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so the conflict has been set up


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this quick update isn't usual, when i posted chapter two i already had chapter three done. i can't work on this fic for about a week for... reasons i dont want to get into bc they're convoluted so i just decided to post this now

“Do you have any scissors?” Al asked Mei as they stopped by a tiny dried up oasis, letting the horse rest a bit in the shade. 

 

“Well you can use these,” she said, taking out her knives.

 

“Er, that'll do. Thanks.” Al said, reaching out for the knives. It wasn't ideal, but it'd get the job done.

 

“Hold on!” Mei said, moving the knives out of the way of Al’s greedy hands before murmuring something in Xingese under her breath. When she finished, the knives had become an actual pair of scissors.

 

“Oh, right.” Al took the knives from Mei sheepishly and started cutting their long hair into a short bob. 

 

“Right _here?_ ” Mei exclaimed as Al collected all the hair they cut with their hands and dropped it far away from both of them. 

 

“I haven't been able to cut it once in five years. I hate having my hair long. It makes me look like my brother.”

 

“Ah… Not a huge fan of him then? Wait-- is he the one who locked you up in that tower??”

 

Al laughed. “Oh no! No, he's great. The shadow demon I mentioned earlier is the one who kept me up there. I just don't wanna look like him, y'know? Having the same hairstyle as your brother is kinda lame.”

 

“Oh okay, that's good. I was totally prepared to kick his ass just in case.”

 

Al smiled. “I could tell. If he does anything incredibly stupid I'll let you know.”

 

“And I'll be ready,” Mei said with a smirk. 

 

“Good.” Al finished up their little haircut and handed the scissors to Mei. She frowned as she turned them back into knives and hair fell out of them. 

 

“Not to dampen your mood or anything but it's… Really uneven.”

 

Al shrugged. “I'm fine with that! When I get home I'll be able to get a proper haircut, I usually like it shorter anyways.”

 

“Oh yeah, I forgot to ask. Whereabouts do you want to end up?”

 

“Oh, it doesn't matter! I don't want to make you carry me along any longer than what's necessary.”

 

Mei frowned. “I insist, you've been gone for five years right? What if you go back and something happened?”

 

“Oh no I know everything's fine! Y'know how I mentioned that I dabbled in magic? I was actually in contact with my brother until very recently, this morning in fact. My captor finally found the mirror I enchanted. He might be freaking out a bit but… Nothing’ll explode in the meantime.”

 

“Still. Just tell me where you're going.”

 

Al sighed. “Fine, I'm just going to the capital, nothing fancy.”

 

“Well lucky you, you get your ride no matter what. That's where I'm going too.”

 

Al laughed at themself a bit for being so stubborn. “Really? That argument was all just for nothing wasn't it.”

 

Mei laughed and hopped back onto the horse. “Yep!”

 

* * *

 

The small oasis Ed had led Ling to was unlike anything he'd ever seen. It was located in a large courtyard right in the middle of the palace. It almost looked untouched, though Ling figured it was maintained regularly. There were several palm trees in the space, though because of the size of the courtyard they didn't seem crowded at all. Other bushes and plants obstructed the actual water from view, but they were very beautiful by themselves. 

 

As Ling followed Ed through the foliage, he realized that there was absolutely no way the plants were left to grow by themselves, the water was held in a tiled basin, completely cut off from the soil and connected to some sort of plumbing system. 

 

“Why are we here again?” Ling asked tentatively. It was beautiful, but he wasn't quite sure what it had to do with the task at hand. 

 

“I come here to think. Even if we're being reckless I’d still like a bit of a plan.”

 

“...So you brought me, someone you hate and consider an idiot.”

 

Ed frowned and looked back at Ling. “I don't dislike you _that_ much. I just thought it'd be smart to actually have the person who's coming with me know what's going to happen.”

 

Ling grinned at what he considered to be a complement. “Well I'm glad to be here then.”

 

Ed rolled his eyes and walked towards a small bench on the side of the man made oasis. He pulled a map out of his robes and unfolded it onto the bench, already deep in contemplation. 

 

Ling looked down at the map in curiosity. He'd seen maps of Xerxes and the surrounding desert before, but never at this level of detail. Cities had different labels according to both population and water source, oases frequented by nomads dotted the map in blue, and Ling was pretty sure he'd never heard of the place labeled “Ishval” in the southwest. Xerxes itself was fairly circular, it's circumference mainly staying within the desert. The circular shape struck Ling as odd, as many more habitable areas were only claimed in part while whole swaths of empty desert were under the kingdom’s rule to keep the kingdom circular. 

 

“Our latest calculations lead us to believe that Al’s located to the Eastern side of the country, which is good news because there's a lot more trade and nomatic travel in that area. Al’s tower has to be a good distance away from any landmarks or places with heavy traffic to be hidden so well.”

 

Ling nodded slowly, watching as Ed sketched out the area where Al’s tower could be based off of the stars and then shade in the areas where finding it would be most likely. 

 

“So we just search those areas until we find them?”

 

“Pretty much… There is a bit of an extra step though. We’ll have to plan each individual trip so that we can go from settlement to settlement between times of searching and also figure out how we're going to scan the area efficiency. That's uh, a bit more than an extra step, huh?”

 

Ling laughed. “Maybe a bit. Are we going to plan out the whole trip right now?”

 

Ed frowned. “Well… Hmm. I think that might not be the best idea. The desert is a very unpredictable place, and putting a rigid schedule on trips would be dangerous. I say we plan out generally how we'll tackle things now and then when we get there we'll see how things actually pan out.”

 

Ling shrugged. “You're the expert!”

 

The next few minutes consisted of Ed working out loud and Ling nodding along in approval, feeling very much like he was apart of things even though he wasn't really participating. 

 

As Ed put the final touches on the plan, Ling's attention moved from the map he'd been staring at for a good while then and onto Ed himself. He was not expecting the flutter in his chest as he looked up to see Ed frowning slightly in thought, but otherwise very calm and soft, concentrated. Ling recalled his first judgement of Ed, someone dismissive and uncaring, someone who didn't care about his status or people, and realized he'd changed his view on him. 

 

Ed was actually, surprisingly, incredibly caring. His dedication to his brother was admirable, he was looking for them even before he knew they were alive. He, despite the initial hangups and continued grumpiness, was actually fairly kind to Ling, especially compared to other important political figures he'd had the pleasure to meet. 

 

Ling also realized that for a king, Ed probably didn't have a lot of power. He'd mentioned the nobility in passing with distaste, but Ling remembered from the long list of things Lan Fan insisted he needed to know that Ed became king at around twelve years old. It'd been about ten years, sure, but everyone knew that a young ruler was almost always destined to become a puppet. Ed might have his own ideas for the kingdom and care about his people, but none of that would matter when his power was stripped of from back when he was first crowned and horribly unprepared to lead an entire kingdom. It was no wonder he spent his days sleeping in and working on finding his brother.

 

“Hey-- are you even listening to me?” Ling blinked and saw that Ed was now looking at him, annoyed. 

 

“Uhh… I was?”

 

Ed sighed and broke eye contact. “Fine, whatever. I guess you'll just be surprised once we get there.” There was a beat of silence before Ed asked, “were you distracted by anything interesting?”

 

Ling coughed violently as heat rushed to his face. He had just realized what he was doing was starting at Ed and thinking about how nice he was, which is gay. “Oh it's uh! No it was incredibly boring.”

 

Ed hummed, unconvinced, but didn't press Ling for the truth. “You never did tell me why you came to Xerxes, not really,” he said instead. 

 

“What do you mean? I already told you I want to improve the rela--”

 

“No. Why _Xerxes?_ Why _you?_ You said you're the twelfth prince of Xing right? Statistically there should be quite a few princesses in that lineup. If Xing really wanted to improve our relationship they'd try to send someone to marry me like every other power nearby. It just doesn't… Make any sense.”

 

Ling shrugged. “I chose to come here, thought it would be nice. Since I'm so low on the succession chain I honestly don't get ordered around too much compared to some of my siblings. There's 43 of us at the moment, quite the opposite problem of the one you have here. I also got a bit sick of courting princesses I didn't know.” Was that risky? Maybe, but he assumed that straight guys still didn't like that, right? Maybe?

 

Ed hummed. “Yeah, I feel that. It feels like a new princess comes along every week trying to win my hand in marriage. Maybe if Al was still here the princesses would have some luck, they’ve always been a lot more romantic than I have but...” He frowned a bit and sighed. “I wish you got to talk to them a bit before the mirror broke. They're a really great person, and I think they'd like having someone else to talk to other than me all the time.”

 

Ling looked over at Ed and gave him a bit of a sorry smile. “I'm sure I'll be able to talk to them plenty when we find them, right?”

 

“Yeah, you're right.” Ed looked out at the oasis again contemplatively before speaking again. “This is a uh, hm. I'm not quite sure how to phrase this but, are you… Aware of why I use they/them pronouns for Alphonse?”

 

Ling gulped a bit. He had a hunch, he hoped he was correct, but he didn't know enough about Xerxian culture to be quite sure. “I just assumed that they're… What's the Xerxian word… Genderless? I'm sorry if that's wrong I was just copying you.”

 

Ed's face melted into one of relief and he laughed. “Nonbinary would be more accurate, but yes. I… You're one of the few people I know that respects that.”

 

Ling nodded. “Yeah I…” He frowned. Was he really just about to come out? As trans? When just a few minutes earlier he was afraid of saying something alluding to the fact that he's gay? “I'm trans, so I get it. Thankfully I was able to kind of… Trade places with my sister who's also trans, there's so many of us that if the number of princesses and princes stays the same no one really bats an eye if two switch.”

 

Ed's eyebrows rose up to the top of his forehead. “That worked? Did you have to swap names too or did no one care?”

 

“No one cared! I think they just chalked it up to an accounting error. There's a few people within my own clan that remember and are much less than accepting, but when no one up in the palace knows any difference it's not like they'd believe any of them.”

 

Ed laughed. “Wow… And I thought my mother fabricating a story about a twin sister was strange.”

 

Ling slowly grasped onto Ed’s words and made sense of them. “So… You too?”

 

“Me too!” Ed said with a smile. He started laughing, but midway through tears started running down his cheeks.

 

Ling took a chance and wiped away one of his tears. “Are you alright?”

 

Ed's smile wavered, but didn't fall. “I just never thought I'd find someone who…” He trailed off and pulled Ling into a hug. “Thank you.”

 

Ling returned the hug warmly. “Well if us trans folks don't take care of each other, who will?” 

 

“Not the cissies.”

 

Ling laughed, gaze wandering to the discarded map. “We better find your brother then, huh?”

 

Ed laughed. “Oh god, yeah. I'm pretty sure Pride is cishet, not very good company. The sooner we find them the better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trans rights

**Author's Note:**

> hi comments are my favorite so if u could leave one that'd make my day.


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